In general, this case relates to a method and apparatus for detecting and indicating when heart sounds emanating from particular physical areas of a person are indicative of a known heart disorder. More particularly, the invention intends to provide a means and method of detecting and comparing audio signals emanating from the classical four physical areas of auscultation with corresponding prerecorded audio signals representing various known heart disorders.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,087, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, a manikin audio system was described in which proper placement of a synthetoscope on one of the four classical areas to be examined caused one of four audio signals stored on a continuous tape to be coupled to the ears of the examiner. This system has proven to be an extremely effective teaching tool, and although the audio signals do not emanate directly from the physical area under auscultation, the proper sounds in each of the four areas are coupled to the examiner at the time the particular region of the manikin is explored. There are 50 different heart disorders or diseases presently available for selection from the tape library, each tape representing one disease and having four audio tracks corresponding to the four areas. This enables the examiner to listen to the sounds for each disorder and learn at an individual pace the variations between sounds in the four areas.
The four classical sounds are related to the construction of the interior of the heart which is divided into four chambers, namely, the right antrum, right ventricle, left ventricle and left antrum. The right and left ventricles consist of several layers of muscle which serve as the primary pumps of the heart, and the left and right antrums serve as the receptacles for blood returning to the heart. Each of the four chambers produces a unique heart sound frequency spectrum that can be analyzed to indicate a disorder or malfunction of an associated chamber.
The manikin audio system is particularly adapted to be utilized as a teaching tool, and its use has been limited to medical students and those specializing in heart disorders. Therefore, a large library of information containing some fifty known heart disorders has not been available for use by a large majority due to limited access and availability at only a few teaching institutions. In addition, students, other than heart specialists, once they have left the teaching institutions and have been in practice for a number of years, soon lose the discrimination required for the various sounds for a given disease when exploring particular regions of the heart. Accordingly, a real need exists for a portable device, namely, a heart detective, which could utilize this known information during a physical examination and give an indication of a disorder to physicians or other trained personnel in this country, as well as in underdeveloped countries where doctors and heart specialists are in great demand. The device is not intended to be a definitive diagnosis, but rather to indicate a connection between a known disorder and the particular person being examined. Once a problem has been detected, a more thorough examination may be undertaken by a skilled heart diagnostician utilizing some of the more advanced electronic and computer analysis equipment. The device of the invention is particularly suited for use in remote areas and locations that do not have ready access to heart specialists and expensive analysis equipment.